Track opens, with fans, today
The coronavirus pandemic kept fans from the Saratoga Race Course last year, but this year, all bets are off, the Times-Union says. Only owners, trainers, media and other essential workers watched races like the Travers, Alabama and Whitney last year, the story says. The New York Racing Association may be setting new records for attendance and betting this year, the story says.
Child care facility opens at Saratoga Race Course
The Saratoga Race Course has opened a childcare center on site so that backstretch workers who used to see their children only one day a week can now see them daily, the Times-Union is reporting. Backstretch workers, trainers, and racetrack employees can take advantage of the center, run by the Belmont Child Care Association. Called Faith’s House it opened Sunday with 20 children, most infants. It has room for 17 more, the story says.
Krantz Cottage opens
The newest Ronald McDonald House, a place for families of hospitalized children to stay, will begin to host people this weekend in Lake George, a story in the Post-Star says. Originally the law offices of longtime Lake George attorney Howard Krantz, Krantz Cottage officially opened during an emotionally-charged ribbon cutting on Wednesday, the story says. Krantz’s daughters, Elyse Krantz and Gayla Langlois, said they were happy and their father would have approved.
Labor shortage felt in Adirondacks
The North Country’s labor force is shrinking while the need for employees is growing, a story in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise is reporting. A big reason: Boomers are retiring, the need for childcare during the pandemic kept some people home and people have moved away, the story says. The pandemic-related unemployment benefits have kept people on the low rungs of the economic ladder at home, also, the story says.